Bliss, son of Cupid, looked up at his babysitter for the day, then back
at the cat he'd been talking
to for the last few hours, the one he had claimed as his, no matter
who it belonged to - he'd just
pout if they didn't agree with him. He glanced back up at his
sitter as he called up his new bow
that his Grandfather Heph had made for him, shooting the kitty with
one of his father's special
arrows before he could be caught. The cat started to howl for
its mate, whining in discomfort
because none of the creatures around it were remotely like him.
So, when Joxer went to get
someone to see about the cat, Bliss took him to help him find his one
true kitty love.

Ares walked back into the living quarters of his temple. "Okay, what
was that noise?" he asked
the mortal walking out to meet him. "And tell me you didn't leave
the imp alone." He raised an
eyebrow at Joxer when he paled, turning to walk back into the room
where he'd been watching
the baby. Ares looked around the room in disgust, then at his
son's boyfriend. "You two make
more of a mess than ten of Bliss."

"He said he'd clean it when he got back," Joxer defended. "Bliss?
Horsey?"

"Is that what he named that fur-shedding, prowling, mean, and biting
creature?" Joxer nodded
with a grin. "All right then," Ares said with a small sigh.
"Bliss?" He checked the power
signatures flowing around the room, following his grandson's to the
mortal plane. "Oh, no," he
groaned. He looked at the man he'd brought with him. "Go get
Aphrodite," he told him, sending
him on his way. "Bliss," he called sweetly. "No time for
games. Daddy'll be looking for you
soon." Ares spun at the delighted laughter behind him, frowning
at Iolaus. "What?"

"Wondering why you were being so nice, that's all," he said, pointing
at a brush that was moving.
"He flew in there. Right after making Herc fall in love with
a bird." He laughed again at the
smirk on the God's face. "Which was a sight to see, trust me."

Ares rubbed over his face. "Is the cat with him?"

"*You* have a cat?"

"No, Strife and Joxer have a cat but since they managed to blow up their
temple with all the
sexual energy they were putting out, I got to house them, or really
Joxer since I sent Strife
packing last week before I killed him, and Bliss has Ďadopted' their
cat for his own personal
friend." He looked around the clearing. "Here, kitty,"
he called sweetly, scowling the whole
time. "Come to me, Horsey, and I'll give you some nice milk and
send Bliss far, *far* away."
He shot a glare at the mortal before he could say anything. "He
only responds to nice people," he
said with a shrug. "But I'm going to kill Joxer for this."

"You let Joxer baby-sit Bliss?" Iolaus asked, grinning, covering his
mouth with a hand before
Ares could blast him for laughing again. He ended up turned toward
the tree, clutching it for
strength as the giggles burst forth, eventually falling to his knees
when it got to be too much and
he couldn't hold onto the bark any longer. "Why...why was Jo...Joxer
watching Bliss?" he
managed to choke out.

"Because Cupid is molting and isn't fit to be in the same room with
the kid," Ares said, frowning
at the warrior. "Done?" Iolaus nodded, standing up and
wiping his eyes. "Good, help me find
the cat. Strife will plague me if something happens to Joxer's
cat." He looked around. "Here,
Horsey," he called sweetly again.

"Horsey?"

"Strife named it!" Ares said hotly, getting more and more frustrated
with the stupid questions. He
would be caught if he didn't get his grandson back to his temple soon
so he offered the abridged
version hoping the mortal would understand after all they'd been through
together. "When I
made him leave, Joxer got lonely and asked me if I'd help him get them
a pet. I sent him to his
room and locked him in there so I didn't kill him but 'Dite came and
took him to Athens, where he
picked up this longhaired black cat. The one visit I've allowed
Strife, he named it Horsey." Ares
shrugged. "This is all their fault."

"And who let Joxer baby-sit?"

"Cupid." He looked around, groaning as he felt the power displacement
of another God coming
to them. "What now?" he groaned.

"Hey," Aphrodite said, appearing with Joxer, who was redressed in Strife's
clothes to make him
feel better. "What's up with Bliss?"

"Joxer let him get away," Ares told her with a fake smile, malice dripping
from every word. "I
could tell he'd gotten a bow again too."

"I was reading," Joxer defended. "Not a foot away from him."

Iolaus groaned. "Joxer, you never stop looking at a child that
young, especially not Bliss." He
patted Aphrodite's ass cheek on the way around her, stopping before
the God of War. "Let her
take Bliss, I'll help you hunt for the cat."

"Horsey!" Joxer yelled, grinning madly at the small meow from the tree
behind them, looking a
lot like his lover. "There you are," he said, turning to look
up at his cat. "Get down here."

"Oh, let me help," Ares said, blasting the branch the creature was resting
on, earning frowns from
everyone. "What? I just want to get out of here before
*he* shows up."

"A very aggressive and very sexual predator," Joxer said, shivering.
"Strife had to come save me
from him. He's worse than Ares when he prowls because he hasn't
been getting any." He ducked
the fireball the God of War sent at him. "Well, you do!"

"Did someone call?" a deep male voice said as he popped in, smiling
sweetly at his mother.
"Where's my child, Mother?" His wings fluttered around his bare
chest and arms, teasing the tight
leather on his lower half.

"In the bush," Iolaus said, pointing. "At least he was five minutes
ago."

Cupid frowned at it. "Bliss! Now!" The winged toddler
flew out, giving him a hug and a big,
wet, sloppy kiss on the cheek. "Thank you, now take yourself
to Grandma's. She's going to
watch you."

"Kitty!" Bliss said, holding out a hand to pet the dark form in Joxer's
arms. "Me Kitty." He
looked up at his father. "Now! Me kitty!" Then he
laughed just like Uncle Strife had taught him.

Aphrodite shook her head, latching onto Joxer's arm. "I will get
Strife for that," she promised
them all, disappearing in a sprinkle of sparkles.

Cupid looked down at his son, kissing the side of his head one last
time. "Go to Grandma's and
play with Joxer." He let the toddler go, watching as he flew
up and popped out. "Now then,
Father," he said, his voice dripping ice. "You let *Joxer* watch
my son?"

"Hey, I had to go attend to Zeus. He wanted me to punish someone.
I locked them in his room
and everything."

Iolaus cleared his throat, making both Gods look at him. "Um,
Bliss had a bow again," he said
quietly. "Herc's presently chasing a bird he fell in love with."
Cupid raised an eyebrow, his wings
coming around to stroke his bare arms. "Hey, I didn't do it,
I just thought you'd not want people
falling in love with animals." He shrugged, backing up.

"And what are you willing to do for me if I do help him?" Cupid purred.
Ares popped out, eyes
very wide. Iolaus just looked him over. "Well, that's a
start," he said. "We'll go pick up Daddy
Dearest in a few minutes." He waved his hand in the air, his
bow materializing. He closed his
eyes, concentrating as he released the arrow, which disappeared after
a few feet. "Good, done,"
he said, sending it away at the pained yelp. "Come on, I need
a cure and you'll do," he purred.

"Oh, I'm better than that," Iolaus promised with his best pick up smile,
"but be gentle with me, it's
been a while since I had to deal with such a strong man." He
ran a gentle hand down the nearest
wing. "So soft," he murmured, stepping closer to smell them.
"And you smell like sex already."

"Yeah, I get like this," Cupid admitted with a smile. "Come on,
I'll bring you back to Uncle
Hercules in a while." He stroked down a firm arm as he picked
the mortal up, carrying him aloft
before popping out. When they landed in front of Ares, Iolaus'
shirt was already missing and he
was panting hard from what the fingers and feathers were doing to his
bare chest. "Daddy,"
Cupid called sweetly, making the older God turn around and look at
him, eyes very wide. "Come
'ere. Now." His eyes glittered with suppressed lust.
"Now, Ares," he called softly, bringing a
wing around to tease his mortal plaything's nipple with a feather.

Ares sat down on his thrown, shaking his head. "Don't think so.
Sorry."

Cupid leaned down, nibbling up Iolaus' neck, enjoying it while showing
his father what he would
be missing. "Oh, I do." He smirked, leading his new toy
over to the throne and pushing the
mortal down so he could rub his hands over the firm, unfortunately
clothed butt. "I really do."
He undressed them all with a thought, glancing down Ares' body, noticing
the interest being
shown to his actions. "Are you *sure*?" he asked softly, adding
just the right hint of command
and vulnerability to his voice. He drew a finger up the mortal's
crease while he leaned down to
nip at the back of his neck. "Now, be a *good* boy and I'll let
Ares play with you too," he
promised. "I know you like him."

"Yeah," Iolaus muttered. "A lot the last time he played with me."
He looked over his shoulder.
"You gonna tease all day?" His breath caught as he felt the God
of Love's power course through
his lower body, stretching and preparing him with a mere thought.
"Okay, I'm guessing that was a
no." He squeaked as Cupid shoved into him, closing his eyes to
savor the slight burn from the
rapid entry, moving forward to rest against the throne, or so he thought
until his head ran into a
warm wall. "Ares," he panted in apology, still trying to catch
his breath, his whole body arching
as Cupid pulled back and slammed into him. "Thank you," he whispered,
closing his eyes so he
could just enjoy it.

Ares growled at the two men bracing against him. "I hate you when
you're like this," he told his
son, pulling the mortal's head down into his lap. "Suck," he
commanded.

"Na-uh," Cupid said, wiggling a finger at him. "That's not playing
fair." He slammed into the
willing body again, staring his father directly in the eyes.
"Play by my rules or no playing," he
whispered, using a wing to caress the side of Iolaus' face.

"Fine," Ares spat, pulling his son's head down to kiss him hard.
"Your rules, you're the one that's
suffering." He pulled back, looking at the head now resting against
his stomach. "Suck," he
commanded again, eyes closing as it was followed. "I had forgotten
how well you do this," he
said quietly, shifting to give the mortal man a little more access
to his ready flesh.

Iolaus was in heaven, his body was stretched around an incredible lover
and his mouth was full of
the man who had taught him how to please a man. He pushed back
against the God of Love, his
whole body arching at the slap to his thigh. He did it again,
getting a harder slap, which just made
his body tighten around the invader. He moaned around the cock
in his mouth, looking up at the
God of War, winking as he nipped at the sensitive head.

Ares' yell echoed around them as he held the head down, shooting off
in the eager mouth.

"Very nice," Cupid purred, pulling Iolaus back until his forehead was
resting on the trembling
thigh of his father, pounding the mortal as hard as he could, keeping
contact with the older God.
Ares shivered again, wiping the sweat off his forehead with one hand
while tugging on the hair of
the man between them. "Ohh," Cupid shivered, shooting off into
the willing hole.

"Guys?" Iolaus asked quietly.

"Shh," Ares told him, tugging his head up so he could look into the
light blue eyes. "You'll get
your turn."

"Yes he will," Cupid said, pulling him up and walking them closer to
the older God. "Your turn
first though," he said, pulling his father's head down toward the mortal's
cock. "Suck," he
ordered, very much like Ares had, his eyes glinting with his pleasure.

None of them noticed Strife, Joxer, and Bliss pop in at the end of the
hall, the God smiling at his
lover, who was holding the baby, as he handed Bliss his bow.
"Just hit all of them, just like
Grandma taught you," he whispered. Bliss giggled maniacally,
aiming at his father and the mortal
first.

Cupid moaned as he felt the slight sting to his rear, glaring at his
father for using his powers to
zap him. "What?" Ares asked, licking his lips. He saw Iolaus
flinch and looked at his son, both of
them turning to the end of the hall where they could now sense some
power hiding in the
shadows. "Bliss," he muttered. He dived out of the way
of the arrow aimed at him, coming up
from his roll and glaring at the men he could now see. "Why do
you have Bliss' bow?" he asked
his other son, glaring as he called up some of his massive power to
hurt him badly.

"'Prise!" Bliss yelled as he stuck his grandfather in the ass with an
arrow, giggling as he grinned at
his father. "Hi, Daddy!" Then he popped out before Ares
or Cupid could stop him, followed by
Joxer and Strife.

"Aphrodite!" Iolaus screamed.

She just looked at him as she popped in, carrying her smiling grandson.
"What? Can't you see
I'm busy?" She waved a hand at herself, letting them see her
sloppy dress and lack of makeup.
"Get over it. You agreed to be their toy for a while."

"Mother, Bliss hit us all." She nodded. "Did you put him
up to that?"

"Me?" she asked innocently, popping back out before the two males could
gang up on poor little
her.

Ares growled, pushing Iolaus out of his way as he sat down on his throne.
"No, this is not
happening." He glared at his son. "You planned this," he
accused.

"Would I have been affected if I had?" Cupid suggested dryly, teasing
the mortal with his wings,
looking down and watching him shiver. "We can annul it later,"
he said, popping all of them to
his bedroom, tossing Ares down onto the soft surface. "Your turn,"
he purred, climbing over the
mortal to land on his father's prepared body, slipping inside.
"Good," he growled, giving him a
hard ride. "Just what I needed." He traced a line around
the older God's throat. "I think you'd
look great in my markings." He glared at the mortal who dared
move, popping him onto the bed
beside them. "Don't move," he said coldly. "I'm going to
have you again in a minute." He
slammed in Ares' body one last time, pulling out and looking down at
the leaking cock. "Very
nice." He reached over blindly, pulling Iolaus on top of the
older God's body, slamming back into
him, making the mortal rock into the other God's body, smirking at
the groan. He rode him until
both the men under him came, letting himself get off only then.
"Ah," he said, lying down across
the merging bodies below him. "Let's nap now," he muttered, his
exhaustion taking over.

Ares waited until he was sure Cupid was asleep, popping both the mortal
and himself back to his
throne room. "He needs this sort of playing when he molts," he
explained to the warrior. "It's the
only way to purge the urges in his body. Are you still willing?
It'll take a few weeks at the least."

Iolaus snorted. "Like I could leave," he said, blinking at the
Big Bad God of War. "Just send a
note to Herc and I'm both of yours until he doesn't need me."
He blinked at Joxer as he walked
in. "That was cruel," he said coldly.

"Yeah, well, wasn't my idea," he said happily. "Mom-in-law sent
Hermes to warn Hercules and
to tell him what Bliss did." Both men groaned. "I see you
forgot already," he said with a small
smirk. "Aphrodite told me to tell you to not fight it so hard,
it's going to take her a while to get
the antidote ready."

Cupid sighed as he walked out, stretching and yawning, making both of
his lovers drool. "We can
reverse the arrows." Joxer shook his head. "Yes we can,"
he said coolly, "it's my area and I
should know."

"Your mother looked at the arrows he was using and she said to tell
you they were the 'special'
ones," Joxer did the finger quotes, just like she had told him, "and
that if you try to reverse it with
another arrow it'll be stuck forever. You'll hate them but feel
like you *need* them to have sex
with you." He shrugged at the three glares. "Just a messenger,
really." He pulled Iolaus aside to
talk to him privately. "Can you not tell Xena and Gabby about
me and Strife? I watch out for
them and go join them, but I really don't want to tell either of them."

"Sure, not a word," Iolaus told him. "How long before she has
that remedy?"

"She said it would be at least a few weeks."

"So as long as Cupid will be molting?" Joxer nodded, smiling.
"Well, I was going to offer to
stay and help Cupid anyway so that would be great if they happened
to coincide," he said with a
small wink. "Go have fun," he said, looking at the shiny leathers that
the wanna-be warrior was
wearing. "You're even starting to look like Strife."

"Yeah, well, we've gotten really close. He said I was the one
he was looking for, the one that
could really understand him." He shrugged, touching the amulet
his lover had given him so he
could get back home without help.

Iolaus walked back over to where the two Gods were in a staring contest
and did what he felt
like, leaning down to lap at one of Cupid's nipples, earning a hiss
and having his head held down.
"Hi," he said quietly, straightening up, walking into the open arms.
"I understand, Ares told me,
and if you want me here, I'm your man."

Cupid laughed lightly. "Oh, in more ways than you think.
When Bliss used those special arrows,
he used the most powerful items in my arsenal. Those can actually break
the species barrier." He
smiled down at the mortal in his arms. "Ares didn't want to tell
you, but Mother was being
optimistic. As far as I know Heph didn't make a cure."
He saw the small shrug. "Do you realize
what that means?"

"For me, not much. I'll be able to go on as usual with the occasional
visit from you two. Not
much difference at all considering Ares did that to me for almost five
years while I was out of
Greece." He smiled at the small gasp. "I ached so badly for someone
else, went to one of
Aphrodite's temple to gain the knowledge I needed on how to get him
and pleasure him. Ares
stopped me on the way, telling me he could teach me. Disguised
himself as one of her High
Priests, no less." That earned a small laugh from the younger
God. "He taught me everything I
needed to know, *then* told me who he was. I was so pissed."
He looked over his shoulder at
the older God. "I wanted so much to hurt you."

"You did," Ares admitted. "You left." He shrugged at the incredulous
look he got. "Why would
I go to all that trouble for someone I didn't like or want?"

"I figured that out a few years later, when you started to show up constantly
to harass Herc." He
looked back up at Cupid. "He winked at me as he left, every time.
Herc even accused me of
sleeping with him because we were fighting then."

"No, we'll go tell him now," Cupid said gently. "I can't connect
to you like I need to when you're
worried about him." He teleported them to where his Uncle was
fishing beside a small river.

Iolaus looked down then gave Cupid a panicked look. He grinned
as clothes appeared on both of
them, though he couldn't feel them so he knew it was just an illusion.
He cleared his throat,
getting his friend's attention. "Got a sec?"

"Yeah," Hercules said, patting the grass beside him. "Come sit."
He looked at Cupid, then at his
wings, which had shed a few feathers since they had gotten down there.
"I won't take too long.
You can have him back."

Ares watched the little conversation on a scrying mirror, not listening
to the words. He saw the
pleased smile on his occasional lover's face so turned it off, sure
it would all be okay now. He
knew it was a side effect of the arrow but he felt...things for the
mortal now. And for his son but
mostly for the mortal. "Gods," he swore, "why me?"

"Because you were the victim of the happily-ever-after baby," Aphrodite
said, popping in behind
him to hug him tightly. "Bliss decided you weren't happy so fixed
it for you. You're just going to
have to wait it out, Ares." She punched his arm, grinning.
"Besides, I like sweetcheeks. He's a
sweetie, sure to lighten even your tartness." She giggled and
popped out, sounding distressingly
like Strife.

"Yes, and we both know who put the plan into his head," Ares muttered,
sending a thought
toward the bedroom to clean it for when his new lovers got home.
"But we'll see about what
happens to you, Strife," he promised, going back to recline in his
throne and rest. He'd need his
strength to deal with his son's needs when he got back. It amused
him how his grandson and one
irritating cat had done this to him, but not enough to forgive them
for a long time for it.